


and the howl of the desert carries me home

by christchex



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, I'm truly failing on how to tag this tbh, M/M, he's practically a disney princess, michael is a soft feral flower boy, self-indulgent nonsense, the softest boys being soft together, various animals as michael's friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27036226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christchex/pseuds/christchex
Summary: Alex runs into the desert to escape from his father with his guitar clutched to his chest. He plans to spend one last night playing before his father destroys it. Instead, he meets a cute boy with flowers in his curly hair and a lizard on his shoulder. He exchanges a song for a smile.
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes, Pre-Relationship - Relationship
Comments: 27
Kudos: 74





	and the howl of the desert carries me home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haloud](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloud/gifts).



> Hal started talking about an AU where Michael ran away from the group home right after Isobel and Max are adopted. Basically, he lives in the desert and has a bunch of animal friends and never went through most of the bad things in his life.
> 
> Also he has modified plant powers because this is my self-indulgent AU and I say so.
> 
> This is the two of them meeting for the first time and being unbelievably cute. There is more to come, but I have no clue if there will be more plot or if it will just be scenes and such. Haven't decided yet.

Alex ran. The desert dirt slid under his feet as he took too long, stumbling strides away from the house. He could hear his father still, quietly making dinner and seemingly calm. He knew better. He ran, out past the shed and its flimsy protections, out past the borders of their land, and well out into the desert proper. The winter sun warmed him as he stumbled over rocks, through the rough dry grass, and far away from the well-trodden paths that he and his family generally used when they went out into the desert for another night of Manes Family Bonding.

He ran further than he had in weeks, months maybe, further than he had since the last time the P.E. teacher made him participate or else he’d end up with a failure to bring home.

He wished he had one of those now, maybe then he’d know what it was that he did so wrong that he deserved what was waiting for him at home. He clenched the guitar closer to his chest as he slowed down. His breath was loud in the desert, or at least to his own ears. His chest heaved, the guitar rising with it, as he gasped for breath. He closed his eyes and let the tears fall down his face.

His father’s anger was always a quiet thing. He always looked so calm as he hit Alex, with his fists, with his belt. It didn’t particularly matter to him. It was just another duty he had to do, and one he would do well. Breaking things wasn’t new, breaking whatever thing of Alex’s that had offended him was a favorite pastime of his father and his brothers. His guitar was something else though. Alex really did not know what caused his father to say, calm and casual as he peeled potatoes for dinner, “That thing gets used as kindling tonight,” before he turned back towards the potatoes.

Alex hadn’t thought. He just put down his backpack, took out his guitar, walked outside and broke into a run as soon as he hit dirt instead of cement.

He looked around at the desert around him. He could still see his house faintly in the distance, the little shed blended in too much to make out, but the house was a dark shape that cut through the horizon. Alex looked over to a rock that looked to be about knee-height and sat. He moved the guitar onto his lap and took a deep breath. His eyes closed again to hold back the tears. He set his fingers to the fret and started playing the angriest combination of chords he could think of, quickly that turned into something more melodic. Even at his angriest, Alex couldn’t stand to play something that didn’t show his skill. He let his shoulders relax as he strummed, let his mind wander until all he thought about was chord progressions, on the sound of his guitar and where it would be better to finger pick, where he could insert a bassline or a drumbeat. His eyes stayed shut as he played, as he lost himself to music and to the desert around him.

Alex startled at a heavy weight on his shoulder. His hands shook as he startled, the loud discordant sound echoed in the desert. Alex’s eyes flew open and his breath began to quicken as his fear took hold. Shaky breath left his mouth as he turned his head, ready to see his father’s firm hand and stony face. Instead, he was met with the horned, white-striped back of a Texas Horned-Lizard.

“Oh, hi,” Alex said, heart still beating loudly in his ears. “How did you get there?” He asked, nonsensical, as he carefully picked the lizard off his shoulder and placed him back on the ground. “Sorry, you don’t belong on my shoulder.” Alex shrugged at himself. Talking to lizards was not the worst way to react to a Jesse-scare.

The lizard didn’t stay where he was placed, instead he moved towards Alex’s black boot, as if he was ready to start his climb again.

“Oh! No buddy!” Alex said as he shook his foot. The lizard just stared at him for a second before it moved toward his other shoe. “I’m not a rock! You can’t climb me!” Alex stood up, ready to move out of the range of the weirdly fixated lizard, when he noticed flowers.

It wasn’t the season for flowers. The rainy season wouldn’t start for a few more weeks and the winter chill made spring seem like a world away. The flowers were entwined in vines and something that seemed to shine gold, even in the weak winter sunlight. Alex placed his guitar against the rock and moved forward to see more clearly.

It was hair.

The flowers and the vines were entwined with hair, hair that was sunbleached gold. The hair lifted up to reveal a face underneath, a little dirty, but that couldn’t hide how beautiful the face was. The boy in front of him blinked at him, his eyes were hazel and they hurt Alex a little to look at. Alex stepped back and the boy stood up from behind the rocky outcrop he was crouched behind. The boy stood, head cocked as he took in Alex as if he was the unusual thing in the situation. The boy wore a t-shirt that was definitely a normal t-shirt, except whatever vines lived in his hair seemed to weave themselves through the t-shirt, little buds appearing in a flash in between holes. His jeans were dirty, but taken care of, mended in a way that looked different to Alex, but he didn’t look for too long. No, his focus went back to the boy’s face, and to the smile that stretched across his face.

“Hi,” Alex said, more stunned than anything. “I’m Alex.”

He didn’t have time to think about how nonsensical the whole situation was before the boy moved toward Alex’s guitar.

“Hey, that’s mine, you can’t-” Alex started, before he realized that the boy walked around the guitar and picked the lizard up. He gave the lizard a bump with his cheek- a hug, affection anyway- before he placed the lizard on his shoulder. He sat on the edge of the rock, the opposite edge of where Alex himself had just sat. He gestured toward Alex and then toward his guitar with a smile. Alex stared at him until the boy tapped the guitar with his bare toe and then pointed at Alex.

“You want me to play again?” Alex asked. He slowly moved back to the rock and his guitar. The boy nodded. “Okay,” Alex said as he picked his guitar back up and sat down. “Any requests?”

The boy didn’t answer, which didn’t surprise Alex in the slightest. Alex moved to play, hesitant about what kind of music this boy may possibly like. In the end, he kept to the folk songs he remembered his mom playing for him, the kind of thing Maria and Mimi would listen to when he was over for breakfast. He played a song before he looked over at the boy next to him. He had his eyes closed, head tilted toward the sky. He swayed slowly back and forth, as if he wasn’t entirely sure of the rhythm, or not entirely sure how to move to the rhythm. Alex watched as the wind blew through the boy’s hair, ruffling the curls and the flower petals. It was natural, as if this was exactly how he should always look, the next evolution of humanity was this boy with his quiet soul and the flowers in his hair.

Alex switched the song, something more upbeat, a protest song he knew only because Mimi liked to talk about her protest days. The boy startled, as if he didn’t realize that music could change, as if he didn’t know that was the whole joy in music, the fact that it changed. The boy opened his eyes and turned to Alex. He put his elbow on his knees and his chin on his palm. He smiled as he watched Alex’s fingers change from chord to chord, his eyes bright with happiness. Alex felt his cheeks pink at the boy’s attention. The boy’s smile brightened. He turned to the lizard on his shoulder, who seemed to be watching Alex just as intently. The lizard turned toward him and he booped his nose on the lizard’s horny head. It looked like he was saying something to the lizard, his lips seemed to be moving anyway, but Alex couldn’t hear anything. Alex switched songs again, something slow again, to see if the boy would close his eyes again so that Alex could watch him, but he kept his eyes fixed on Alex. A small smile stayed on his face as his eyes watched, fluttering from Alex’s hands to his face to his tapping foot.

It was as if the boy couldn’t get his fill, same as Alex.

Alex played until the sun started to set, shadows creeping longer and longer against the sandy shades of the desert floor.

Alex’s strumming slowed to a stop. “I have to leave soon,” he said to the boy. The smile on the boy’s face dropped, though only a little. He looked around and too seemed to realize the time. He moved to stand up. “Wait,” Alex said before his hands pushed him off of the rock. “I can’t bring this home,” he gestured to his guitar and continued, “my dad’s going to destroy it. That’s why I was out here.” He hesitated for a moment before he stood. The boy stood up too. His face was worried, his eyes large and upset. Alex held the guitar out to him. “Here, take it.” The boy shook his head. “If I bring it home, it ends up in the fire. If you take it, at least someone else gets to use it, right?”

The boy’s lip quivered, eyes blinking heavily, before he nodded. He reached out his hand for the guitar. He brought it towards his chest, similar to how Alex had run with it only a few hours ago. The boy let his fingers ghost over the strings. They made no sound. Alex could barely see, the tears that he had kept at bay were back full force.

“I have to go,” Alex said again. “If it gets too dark, I won’t be able to see where I’m going.” He gave the boy a small, watery smile. The boy looked back, worried. He reached toward Alex before he seemed to think better of it. He hugged the guitar closer to his chest. His lizard, because it had to be his lizard the way it had stayed on his shoulder for so long, moved closer to the boy and nudged his chin.

“Thank you,” Alex said as he turned away from the boy with the flowers in his hair. The boy raised his one free arm, a goodbye.

Alex walked away, pace controlled and eyes forward. He didn’t notice the area was full of hares, of desert mice and lizards, all he saw was the dark spot on the horizon and how it started to light up as the sunset drew near. His house blurred in his vision. 

As he drew closer to his house, he could see his father moving to make a fire.

“Don’t bother,” he called as he walked past him, face still forward so his father couldn’t see his tears, though Alex knew his voice betrayed him. “I got rid of it.”

The only thing his father said was, “good,” before his attention was off of Alex and back to his fire. Apparently, his guitar wasn’t the only thing scheduled to burn.

-

Michael felt Stripes’ firm weight on his shoulder, felt the hard his hard spine catch in the vines in his hair as Stripes moved his body closer to the heat of Michael’s neck and the insulation of his hair. Stripes was the only thing keeping him from running after the boy, Alex. He couldn’t move fast enough with him on his shoulder, and they were too far from their den to put him on the ground and expect him to remain alive.

Michael felt Stripes’ nudge and the back of his mind, a reminder that the sun had set and it was time for them to make their own way home. Michael could feel the desert cottontails at the edge of his awareness, their own eagerness to be home and sleeping far away. The garter snakes and the ribbon snakes slithered through the grass ahead of him, another reminder that it was time for him to go home.

He let himself watch as the boy turned to a speck in the distance and the boy’s home went from a dark smudge into a bright distant glow.

Let’s go , he agreed as he turned back toward the outcrop, and thus closer to home.  The other humans have been out a lot recently. Howl won’t be happy if they see me again.

Stripes nudged him again, in agreement this time, because the coyotes that Michael called family didn’t like the other humans either, and Stripes ended up hating whatever they did. 

He wasn’t like other humans, his mind projected into the growing dark. He could feel the rabbits agree, could feel the snakes’ collective hesitation at the human who ran without looking at his steps. Michael smiled at their reaction. Really, they didn’t like most things. There weren’t many of them left, Michael knew, and they were protective of those that remained. It didn’t stop them from fighting with other snakes, but that was just the way nature was. Michael could understand.

Stripes let him know that he liked the vibrations he felt while perched on Alex’s shoulder, for all the few seconds it lasted.

I liked the vibrations too , Michael agreed with a small smile. He shook his head at the memory, catching Stripes’ scales again, this time with a flower. Michael felt the petals fall as his curls bounced. He closed his eyes for a second and let the energy flow out of him until the flower wilted, fell off, and a new bloom formed.  He sounded like a songbird.

A howl cut into the night, one that Michael returned. He could feel the band as they ran toward him, toward home.

Another call.  Who is the songbird, little brother? The cry carried on the wind. The white-grey fur of Howl shined in the early moonlight. Her voice was the clearest of all the creatures Michael had ever met, her and her mother before him. Her voice had cut so clear through the air when he had stumbled upon her in denning season, her surprise when the human-shaped thing spoke back.

He sang like a songbird,  Michael smiled at the coyote as she bound to his side.  He played this thing , he gestured to the instrument in his arms,  and sound came out. And then he sang. A songbird is what he is. Alex-Songbird .

Howl tilted her head.  You spoke with a human?

Michael shook his head.  He spoke to me. He didn’t understand a thing I said.

You were far from the den, she said before she started to run forward again, to home.  We’ll be fine then.

What if I want for him to speak to me again?  Michael asked. He was quiet, even more so than usual. His mind barely projected the words to her.

I would say that is a bad idea, except that there are flowers growing in your prints, so I know better. You will see him again, as you see the other human too.

Michael looked behind him. There, in the faint light of the moon, he could see the flowers growing from his prints, just as Howl had said. He looked down to see the sprouts reaching between his toes, tickling his heels, and it grew in his happiness. He smiled to himself.

He’d see Alex-Songbird again.

-

Alex set his backpack down when he got back from school. He had finished his homework during lunch and study hall, now that he no longer had a guitar to focus on during the day. He would have to find a way to borrow one for class, or maybe he’d finally start on the piano again. He hadn’t touched it in years, not in a serious way, and he could do with the practice.

That didn’t help him now though, not when all he had was an empty backpack, a mostly empty bedroom, and a desktop computer without a power cord. His guitar was off in the desert somewhere and Alex couldn’t regret that. The boy’s face had lit up when Alex handed it over. For a moment the worry and concern had left his face, and Alex tried not to think about how he’d do anything to make the boy smile like that again.

His dad’s jeep wasn’t in the driveway. He was probably on base for work still. Alex wrote a note, mentioning being done his homework and going for a walk, before he left the back door and followed his path from the day before. The desert was empty when he got to the spot. The only things there were inexplicable flowers and moss where the boy had been sitting.

Alex took a seat and tried to contain his disappointment. Why would a stranger, and strange did not even begin to cover the boy, be there waiting for him? He let himself sit there for long moments. What was the difference between sitting out here and sitting alone at his house? The rock was warm and Alex let his eyes fall shut as he appreciated the desert in the late winter, the sounds of the world waking back up. Well, not quite. Alex had grown up next to the desert his whole life, and it sounded more like the peak of spring with how many animals were moving around. It felt warmer too, not by much but enough that he was getting uncomfortable underneath his thick black hoodie. He left a scale along the back of his hand and the weight of something on his fingers.

“Oh, hello again,” he said to the horned lizard at his hand. He looked around for curls and inexplicable flowers, but he saw nothing. He gently lifted his hand so that the lizard couldn’t climb it. “You are very friendly, but you need to learn personal space.” The lizard just looked at him before he moved to try and climb on to Alex’s leg.

Alex heard the sound of running behind, not the sound of feet hitting the ground by the rhythmic sound of paws and a light weight. Alex froze at the sight of the coyote and then startled even more when he saw the boy running up behind it.

“Be careful!” He cried, but the boy just smiled before he crouched in front of the coyote and jumped and spun out of its way as it crouched back to pounce. Alex could hear his laughter on the wind.

If Alex wasn’t so terrified, he’d find it beautiful. As it was, he was terrified to watch the flower boy play with a coyote, as if it was a family dog playing around. Eventually, the coyote's body changed, it’s back flexed and its tail went flat. The boy stiffened too. He nodded at the coyote who ran off. Shoulders still stiff, he turned toward Alex with a smile.

“That was terrifying,” Alex said as the boy approached. The boy just smiled in return. “It was! You can’t just play with wild animals like that!”

The boy tilted his head again in his confused manner. He looked around before he moved to sit down on the rock next to Alex. He sat close to him, much closer than he had the day before. He looked around again, smiled at the lizard that was not lazing on Alex’s black-clad thigh, before he grabbed a small rock. He started to dig into the dirt.

‘F-a-m-i-l-y’ he wrote into the dirt.

“That’s your family?” Alex asked and the boy nodded. “You can spell?” The question left Alex’s lips before he thought better of it. “Oh god that was rude. Just because you’re out here and have coyotes as family? That doesn’t mean you aren’t educated.”

The boy just laughed at him. He shrugged and did a hand gesture that Alex couldn’t only assume meant ‘kind of’.

The boy moved a little closer to Alex, so that their legs pressed together. He was wearing the same clothes as the day before. He still had a little bit of dirt on his face and layers caked onto his hands. He smelled a little like sunshine and a little like rain and Alex wasn’t sure what he was going to do with that information, beyond think about it incessantly for the next year. Alex felt the boy’s arm nudge him.

“What’s your name?” Alex blurted out. The boy hesitated for a moment before he moved back to the ground to grab the rock.

‘M-i-c-h-a-e-l’.

“Your name is Michael?” The boy shrugged. “Is that not your name?” The boy made a face that screamed ‘I don’t know’. “So, you don’t know if Michael is your name, but it’s a name you’ve been called?” The boy, Michael, nodded relieved. Alex smiled at being able to understand the boy, even just a little bit.

“Okay Michael,” Alex said with a smile as he leaned his arms back on the rock to enjoy the sunshine. “It’s nice to meet you.” Michael leaned in and rubbed the top of his head against Alex’s shoulder. Alex found himself frozen again. Michael leaned back, legs and arms still pressed together, and smiled at Alex. “Was that saying it’s nice to meet me too?” Alex asked, breathless.

Michael nodded and then paused. His brows furrowed in confusion until he grabbed the lizard from Alex’s lap and rubbed his head against the lizard’s body, like a nuzzle.

“It’s not just that it’s nice to meet me too?” Michael nodded. Alex took a deep breath before he asked, “Are you saying that you’re happy you met me?” Michael nodded. “That’s how you greet everyone?” Michael frowned and shook his head. “Is that you telling me you like me?” Michael beamed and nodded. “Good,” Alex said, a smile on his face smaller than Michael’s, but it lit up his face just as much. “I like you too.”

Michael put the lizard back on Alex’s lap and moved to nuzzle Alex again. Alex laughed. “You know, humans hug?” Michael looked confused, so Alex demonstrated. He turned to face Michael and grabbed Michael’s arms so that they fell around Alex’s waist. It was weird. Michael let them just stay there and didn’t move, until Alex put his arms around Michael’s neck and pulled him close. Alex tightened his arms and Michael caught the hint that he should tighten his arms too. Alex loosened his hold and moved to pull back, but Michael left his arms tight around Alex. Alex laughed.

“You let go now” he explained as he moved to grab Michael’s arms from around you. “That’s a hug. You do it with people you like, friends or family if your family doesn’t suck.” Michael nodded, face serious, and moved his arms so that they wrapped around Alex again. Alex moved in for the hug and then moved back when Michael let his arms drop. “See? You got it! That’s a hug.”

Michael smiled again. Alex would do anything to see his smile everyday. Alex’s cheeks flushed at the idea. He looked down at his lap, at the lizard still there. He felt Michael move next to him.

“So,” Alex said, his face still focused on the lizard. “Does he have a name?” He looked over at Michael in time to see him nod. Michael ran his finger along the long white stripe down the lizards back and tapped it once he got to the end. “Line?” Alex asked. Michael smiled but shook his head no. “Stripe?” Michael smiled and then pointed to the light brown stripes that went down his back. “Was I close? Is it like, is it Stripes?” Michael smiled and nodded.

Alex looked down at the lizard again. “Hello Stripes,” he said, trying not to feel like a fool in front of Michael. But it was Michael’s pet, or something like it, so he it couldn’t hurt him. “Please stop climbing me. I am not a rock.”

Michael laughed and grabbed Stripes again and placed him on his shoulder. Michael’s smile fell and his shoulders dropped. A moment later Alex heard a coyote’s cry in the distance.

“You have to go, don’t you?” Alex asked as Michael stood. He stood up a moment behind him. “I guess I should go home too.” Michael turned to him with a small worried frown. “Don’t worry. My dad was mad yesterday, that’s why I ran out here. He’s fine now. He’s not even home.” Alex wasn’t sure why he was reassuring Michael. It wasn’t like Michael knew him well enough to be worried. 

Michael bit his lip before he surged forward and wrapped his arms around Alex. Alex returned the tight hug. He felt Michael nuzzle into the side of his face before he pulled away. He gave Alex a small smile of apology, before he grabbed Stripes in one hand and started to sprint off into the desert.

Alex sighed. He looked around for any type of distraction and found none. He sighed again and turned to go home. Before he did though, he grabbed one of the small red flowers that had grown where Michael’s feet had touched the dry desert floor.

Alex turned and walked back home, the desert sun only now starting to set.


End file.
